The series' 11-season, 262 episode run makes it the longest lasting live-action sitcom on the Fox network. The show's theme song is "Love and Marriage" by Frank Sinatra from the 1955 television production Our Town.

Synopsis

The show follows the lives of Al Bundy, a once-glorious high school football player turned hard-luck salesman of women's shoes; his wife, Peggy, a tartish, uneducated housewife with a large red bouffant hairdo, 1960s clothes, and funny walk caused by wearing high heels; Kelly, Al and Peggy's pretty, promiscuous, dim-witted daughter; and Bud, their unpopular, girl-crazy, intelligent son (and the only Bundy who ever attended college). Their neighbors are the upwardly-mobile Steve and Marcy Rhoades. (Marcy later marries Jefferson D'Arcy.) Most storylines involve a scheming Al being foiled by his cartoonish dim wit and bad luck. His rivalry and loathing of Marcy also play a significant role in most episodes.

Characters

The Bundy family

The creators of the show named the "Bundy" family after their favorite wrestler King Kong Bundy, though some fans mistakenly believed that the name was derived from serial killer Ted Bundy. King Kong Bundy once appeared on the show as Peg's hick inbred uncle Irwin, and again appeared as his wrestling persona, since "NO MA'AM" (National Organization of Men Against Amazonian Masterhood, a fictional club depicted on the show) were big fans of the wrestler.

The head of the Bundy family, Al (Ed O'Neill) is doomed to fail in all aspirations because of the 'Bundy curse'. 'Once a promising fullback for fictional Polk High School (his proudest moment in life was scoring four touchdowns in a single game), he was on his way to college on a scholarship until he impregnated his girlfriend, married her, broke his leg, and ended up a shoe salesman at 'Gary's Shoes' in the 'New Market Mall.' Al often spends time attempting to re-capture his glory days, but is usually undermined in spectacular fashion by bad luck and poor judgment. He considers his family to be the cause of his failures, and his resentment of them (and fear of having sex with his wife) provides much of the show's humor. However, Al is still devoted to them, given that he protectively beats up Kelly's boyfriends, once threatened a male stripper that "if my wife loses anything in your pants, so will you," once gave his entire paycheck to Bud to enjoy his 18th birthday at the "nudie bar", and holds down a lousy job to put food on the table (occasionally!). Despite his yearning for "the touch of a beautiful woman," he always passes on those rare temptations, once explaining, "I actually kinda like my family."

He frequents "nudie bars" and strip joints with his friends. The only thing that seems to consistently put him in the mood for his wife is watching her do manual labor, which virtually never happens. It is mentioned in a Season 5 episode, aired in 1990, that Al is 43. Al has extremely severe foot odor, prefers the escapism of television and bowling over his dysfunctional family, and life of drudgery and starvation (as Peg refuses to cook, she claims that she is allergic to fire, despite the fact that she smokes); and is often seen in his trademark couch-potato pose — seated on the sofa with one hand stuck under the waistband of his pants.

The foot odor is not his only health problem; once in 1993, he had a bad case of dandruff. He also has terrible teeth, as noted in the episode "Tooth or Consequences," where his extremely poor dental hygiene (green, black, bleeding, and loose teeth amongst them) leads to a trip to the dentist with typical bad luck results. This also happened to be the episode where Peggy made one of her few dinners and Al was unable to eat because his entire head was wrapped in gauze from his dentist visit. His dentist felt he may be able to save a few of his teeth but told his assistant he would need a drop cloth for the floor.

Al's favorite television series, the fictional Psycho Dad, was a source of joy and entertainment that Al seemingly, at times, wanted to emulate. He would hum the words to the theme song, and pretend to "shoot" his fictional gun while watching the show. Much like Al, "Psycho Dad" was tormented by his family, and was stated to kill his wife and get revenge on his children in the opening credits and during various fictional "airings" of the episode, though no video was ever shown. His other joys were Westerns, often John Wayne films, most notably "Hondo," until Peg's family ruined his recording of the movie by taping over it with a song dedicated to her. He has also referenced "Shane" when the clan ruined his enjoyment of that movie.

Al also has his "faithful" 1974 Dodge Dart that invariably had failed brakes, constant break-downs, and numerous other problems associated with its age. At the time of the fourth season at least, Al was still paying it off, despite it being over 20 years old, and by the eighth season, had passed one million miles. Al's Dodge actually appears to be a 1972 Plymouth Duster with an optional vinyl top. Plymouth and Dodge are both owned by Chrysler, and both companies have models originally based on the Plymouth Valiant. Therefore the car looks similar to some Dodge Darts.

Al's house number in Chicago, IL, is 9764 (Jeopardy lane), although the actual house (seen during the opening) is in Deerfield, IL.

Peggy Bundy

Margaret "Peggy" Bundy (née Wanker) (Katey Sagal) is Al's very lazy high school drop-out housewife. She refuses to cook or clean the house, and prefers looking for new clothes to washing them. She does not even think of having a job. During the day, she likes to watch all the daytime talk shows, sitting on the beloved family couch, and eating tons of bonbons (without getting fat). Her favorite TV shows are Oprah and The Phil Donahue Show, but she also enjoys watching the Home Shopping Network. Peggy is a red-head with a bouffant hairdo, and usually wears 1960s, and later, 1970s-styled fashion with skin tight spandex pants and shirts, and Stiletto heels, which make her walk in a unique way. Peg was a cigarette smoker in early seasons, but soon quit. In tune with Peggy's character, it was revealed in the fourth season that she did not graduate high school like she thought, failing to meet a half-credit in home economics. She got her diploma, but only by stealing Kelly's final exam, and tricking her into going to summer school. She continually spends what little money Al makes on everything from expensive clothes to useless junk, even stealing from her children to get extra cash.

Her maiden name is Wanker, and her family hails from the fictitious rural Wanker County, Wisconsin, where "As Einstein put it, everyone's relative." At Peg and Al's high school reunion, her rival muttered, "Peg...Peggy Wanker...Leave a tip, don't bother to thank her." What is never made clear is how she managed to go to high school with Al when her parents apparently never left Wanker County. The choice of the word wanker, is likely to be a private joke, since in British English, the word "wank" is a slang term for masturbation, and "wanker" is often used as a strong insult, applicable either to an inadequate or obnoxious person.

Despite her inappropriate behavior, she generally appeals to men, including Al whenever she does work. Like Al, she would never cheat on her partner -- but unlike Al, enjoys marital sex. She does not seem to mind her husband ogling other women, reading pornographic magazines, or going to strip joints -- most likely because she does the same things herself with other men. Her enthusiasm has caused some of the male strip joints she visits to establish the "Bundy rule" -- where women can no longer go into the back rooms to meet the dancers. During Season 6, Katey Sagal got pregnant in real-life, so it was written into the show. However, Katey suffered a miscarriage, so in true Dallas fashion, the writers made the whole storyline into one of Al's nightmares. Katey was pregnant again twice during the series' run, but instead of writing her pregnancies into the show, the producers either used camera shots from above the stomach, or wrote episodes without the character of Peggy, explaining her absence by having her set out in search of her missing father, and only occasionally calling home.

The producers originally wanted Roseanne Barr to play Peggy Bundy, but she declined, and the producers cast Katey Sagal, who came up with Peg's final appearance, wanting to satirize the TV housewives of the '60s and '70s.

Kelly Bundy

Kelly (Christina Applegate) is the older child in the Bundy family, born on approximately November 27, 1972 or 1973 or sometime before February 19, as noted in "Peggy Turns 300," where Kelly says her birthday is in February, but erroneously refers to herself as an "Aquarium" instead of an Aquarian (Aquarius). "Pumpkin," as Al often calls her, is a promiscuous bimbo and stereotypical "dumb blonde." She may have inherited her behavior from her mother, known as "The Big Easy" in high school. Peg has attempted to convey some of her other "values" to Kelly, most notably advice on how to avoid working.

During the series' run, Kelly got progressively more stupid. Initially, she was not the stereotypical dumb blonde bimbo she eventually becomes. In one episode, a flashback to Kelly's childhood reveals her to have been a prodigious reader until she banged her head during a road trip, instantly changing her personality to prefer focusing on her "shiny, shiny shoes." In the early seasons Kelly was way smarter yet rebellious, and had more self-respect.The show hints at her amazing intrinsic intellectual ability, which only exhibits itself on those rare occasions when she is not preoccupied with her social standing or with the opposite sex. For instance, she can predict the next number drawn on a roulette wheel, but only after letting her mind go blank. When properly motivated, she is able to solve complex mathematical equations, such as her calculation of the trajectory to shoot garbage bags into the D'Arcys' yard from a homemade catapult. It has been demonstrated that she can absorb a limited amount of information very well, but will forget something that she learned in the past once her limit is reached. In one episode, where Kelly appeared on a sports game show, sports-junkie Al takes advantage of that trait in order to train her for the show, filling her head with various (and somewhat useless) sports trivia. However, the plan backfires when Kelly forgets the answer to a high school football question, ironically about Al.
Kelly is also known to display excellent hand-eye coordination when playing pool or performing archery.

Kelly's comedic function tends to include blatant displays of naïvete and ignorance, with the typical response by the family of willfully allowing her to remain ignorant. Bud, in particular, likes to sow misconceptions in her mind. For example, she asks Bud to help her with her book report on Robinson Crusoe, but ends up reviewing Gilligan's Island instead. Her family is surprised to learn that she earned her high school diploma in 1990 -- but when she receives her diploma through the mail after finishing summer school, she asks her mother to read it to her. She then worked as a model and waitress. She had become a bottle-blonde at an early age at her mother's encouragement after a boy at school liked a natural blonde more than Kelly. (Years afterward, neither can remember their own natural hair-color.) She is obsessed with boys, hair bleach, and the telephone. Kelly was not allowed to have sleepovers or birthday parties from age eight to age sixteen, thanks to an experience she had at age eight, where "the judge wanted to try her as an adult."

Though she often pokes fun at her younger brother, Bud, for being an under-developed, pubescent horndog, she usually seems to be proud of him whenever he manages to get an attractive date. On at least one occasion, she has also avenged Bud by humiliating a girl that humiliated him. For a short time, Bud is her official agent, entitled to 80% of her earnings. Kelly is very fond of her pets, even when unable to sufficiently care for them. Buck, the family dog, was generally considered to be hers, and she was the most upset when he died. However, when Buck was to be neutered, Al (not wanting to have Buck fixed) says "Buck is Bud's dog, and we have to get Bud's permission." When Peg asks Bud if it is okay to neuter "his" dog, Bud does not seem to care and simply says, "Sure."

Her favorite comic strip is Garfield. Her less-than-stellar reading skills led to many comedic situations in which she would read the Garfield comic aloud, mispronouncing lasagne as "luh-SAG-nee." She also watches cartoons, such as Looney Tunes, under the impression that it is a nature show.

Bud Bundy

Budrick Franklin Bundy, (David Faustino) is the second child, born on January 22 around 1974. In the first season, Bud is revealed to be in fifth grade, making him 10 or 11, but in subsequent seasons, he was aged to be within one year of Kelly, graduating high school in 1991.

He was named after Al's favorite beer, Budweiser. The first word Bud spoke was "hooters." He believes himself to be attractive, sexy, and smooth, but often is typically caught in sexually humiliating scenarios. He is also shorter in stature than his sister, and a lot shorter than his mother. He does not appear to know how to impress women upon meeting them, and is often rejected. It is unclear when Bud lost his virginity, as it was depicted that he may have bedded women as far back as age 14, but in the fourth season, it is mentioned that he is still a virgin. Later in the series, he manages to have one-night-stands, including one with his cousin's fiancee, played by Joey Lauren Adams. He tries to get girls with the help of various alter-egos, including street rapper 'Grandmaster B' -- a persona often ridiculed by his family with the epithets 'Bed-wetter B', grasshopper B, 'Butt Wagger B', 'Cross-Dresser B', 'Grandma B', 'Grand Bastard B', 'Grand Marshall B', etc. (Faustino has actually been featured in a few rap albums in real-life, and he also manages a nightclub.) Another alter-ego is 'Cool Bud', Bud's sexual, suave side with which he eventually 'merges', prompting him to become more 'cool'. Bud has been known to fail at romance, as those attracted to him are often undesirable (such as fat hotel guests, dowdy college librarians, and male hotel workers). Bud also takes an interest in Marcy; when Steve leaves her, he actively pursues her. After playing a trick on Kelly to prove her stupidity, Kelly proves not to be so foolish by making Bud and Marcy falsely believe they spent the night together. (Bud asks Marcy, "You are on the pill, right?" In response, Marcy looks nervous.)

Out of the Bundys, Bud seems to be the most ashamed of the family as he often pretends not to know them. He is also arguably the most academically intelligent. He ridicules Kelly as a promiscuous dimwit, and although he quite frequently uses her ignorance to his benefit, he occasionally feels obliged to defend her when others exploit her foolishness -- but he is known to scheme against his own family. He makes honor roll throughout high school, and gets himself through college (and even earns scholarship money, which his family spends without his consent). During his college years, Bud is portrayed as the leader of his "social circle" (most of whom are stereotypical "losers"), as he appears to be the only one with the least bit of self-confidence. He is also Kelly's agent, receiving 80% of everything she makes. While being the bait of the family, Bud is the most matured member of the Bundys despite his personality.

Although he is occasionally bullied and beaten by bigger men, Bud has inherited his father's talents for fist-fighting, once teaming up with Al to single-handedly beat up an entire gang of teenage punks, while helping Peg's father find a bear from Wanker County on the loose in Chicago. In two episodes, he has also assisted his fellow Bundys when they brawl with another family -- Al beats up the father, Peg beats up the mother, Kelly beats up the daughter, and Bud beats up the son. On his eighteenth birthday, Bud also helped Al during a strip-club brawl. He is not above fighting dirty by smashing his opponents over the head with chairs or bottles.

Buck

Buck (Played by Michael, trained by Steven Ritt) is the family dog; voiceover by writer/producer Kevin Curran; on special episodes Buck is voiced by Cheech Marin. From season eight on, Buck's voice was provided by staff member Kim Weiskopf. He is often "heard" by the audience through voiceovers that tell what is on his mind. He is just as disgusted with the family as the others. Peggy dotes on him, sometimes even cooking for him. Though extremely lazy, Buck has a huge, insatiable sexual appetite, having at one point impregnated all the female dogs in the neighborhood.

Buck died at one point in the series to allow Michael, the dog that portrayed him, to retire. (Michael died nine months later.) Buck went to animal heaven, and was reincarnated as Lucky, a cocker spaniel. In later seasons, Buck/Lucky would occasionally serve as the narrator in the second half of a two-part episode, recapping the events of the first part.

Lucky

A character whose voice-overs were performed by staff member Kim Weiskopf, Lucky is the spaniel that the family gets after Buck dies. He is the reincarnation of Buck, but no one in the family ever realizes this. In the episode "Lez Be Friends," the Bundy kids have difficulty entertaining a depressed Lucky; it is revealed that Lucky is gay, with a leather-clad Olde English Bulldog as his companion.

Peggy's mother

Heard only in frightening voice-overs by Kathleen Freeman and ground-shaking gags (making her an unseen character), she lives with the Bundys in later seasons. There are vague and comical references to her gigantic weight. This woman is mostly the victim of Al's abrasive, behind-the-back, and hatred-filled insults. She was set to be played by Divine, who died before production. She works a phone-sex hotline under the moniker "Butter." She also uses a pitch fork as an eating utensil.

Peggy's father, Ephraim

Peggy's father was played by Tim Conway, appearing occasionally in the last three seasons. It is implied that he was drunk, and held a shotgun to Al's head at Al and Peggy's wedding. (He calls Peggy by her true name "Margaret.") Unlike many other sitcoms with the father-in-law usually disapproving of the husband having married his daughter, Peg's father approves of Al so much that he held a gun to Al's head to force him to follow through on the marriage Al had drunkenly proposed to Peg, although Ephraim implied in "The Joke's on Al" that the gun wasn't loaded at the time. Ephraim, like his wife, was set to be played by Divine, who died before production.

The neighbors

Marcy D'Arcy

Marcy D'Arcy (Marcy Rhoades from Episodes 0101–0512, played by Amanda Bearse) is Peggy's best friend, Al's nemesis, and the family's next-door neighbor. Though she considers herself to be better than the Bundy family, Marcy often sinks to their level. She originally worked as a loan officer at the city bank (in a higher position than her husband, Steve), and then as the manager of the Kyoto National Bank since the second season. But for a brief time, she was demoted to drive-up window teller as punishment for approving a loan Al could not re-pay (in fact the purpose was to make Al able to re-pay a previous loan approved by Steve, but Al instead turned this loan into his "shoe hotline" project as well, and lost it too). She wins back her old job after frugging on her boss's desk for 20 minutes, clad only in a slip, while the other drive-up window tellers tossed quarters at her.

Initially, Marcy was a sweet, wholesome newlywed, but years of living next to the Bundys apparently warped her into a character almost as outrageous as the Bundys. She contemptuously bickered with Al, and reveled in his misery. One of the reasons for her hatred of Al is his chauvinistic and misogynistic view of women. Marcy seemed to have a disturbing dark side, and enjoys sharing her past memories with Peg, but often tends to get lost in them. At various points in the series, she is identified as a Republican who looks down on the lower-class Bundy clan, but at other times, she is portrayed as a man-hating radical feminist and environmentalist. Al's most frequent targets are Marcy's tiny chest and her chicken-like stance when she gets annoyed. In season 6 Marcy claimed she was pregnant though this was later written out of the show.

One of the running gags in the series has Marcy often mistaken for a young boy, on one occasion even being mistaken for Bruce Jenner; when she reminisces about her first training bra, Al asks "How old were you then - twenty-five?!" Despite wanting to appear prudish, Marcy is shown to be a very sexual person, and is revealed to have a rather sordid sexual history, such as the "Little Bo Peep and the Cop" game.

Although Marcy and Al are usually adversaries, they often unite in common causes, such as when Steve loses his job, and later when Jefferson comes into the series. Their teamwork is attributable to the fact that they are both "bread-winners," giving them occasional moments of mutual understanding.

Jefferson D'Arcy

Jefferson Milhouse D'Arcy (Ted McGinley) is Marcy's First husband (original age unknown, but younger than but one episode mentioned that he celebrated his 40th birthday), a "pretty-boy" who marries her for her money. Self-centered and lazy, he is a male equivalent of Peggy. Marcy met Jefferson (a bartender) at his workplace after a bankers' convention when she got drunk, and found herself married to him the next morning; she was horrified to find out that her name was now Marcy D'Arcy. He is the closest friend of Al, and often angers Marcy when he is bonding with him; unlike who was more of a foil, or straight man, to Al, Jefferson tends to be very encouraging and attuned to Al's behavior. Marcy constantly bosses Jefferson around to keep him in check. However, behind her back, Jefferson often insults Marcy, ignores her orders (and has implied numerous times that he cheats on her). When Marcy's favorite squirrel Zippy dies, Jefferson tells her that he will give it a proper burial, only to punt it out of his sight when Marcy turns around.

Jefferson is a member of "NO MA'AM" along with Al, wearing the trademark T-shirt, but he always keeps a clean "YES MA'AM" T-shirt on underneath, which he quickly reveals if Marcy is about to bust one of "NO MA'AM"'s activities. He seems very afraid of provoking his wife's anger, and his fear is justified -- in one episode, after he angered Marcy, she kicked him in the behind so hard he had to go to the hospital to get her boot removed from his rear end.

Marcy constantly hounds Jefferson to get a job. However, on the rare occasions when he actually gets one (working at the shoe store, being cast as an actor in a commercial, working as an aerobics instructor, working at an auto-repair shop in some menial position, etc.), he usually ends up working with beautiful women, which prompts a jealous Marcy to make him quit and return to his de facto job as her gigolo. This tendency runs in the D'Arcy family, as Jefferson's father also worked as a gigolo, and his mother worked as an exotic dancer before she was eaten by her snake at an airport.

He is easily the most financially-scheming character of the show -- even more than the Bundys. Often, when Al stumbles into a unique lucrative opportunity, Jefferson typically persuades Al to take advantage of it. When Al was robbed in his shoe store, Jefferson convinced him to sue the mall while feigning psychological trauma. When Al discovered hidden shoes that he stocked away in the 1970s, Jefferson convinced him to use the shoes as a new gimmick for the store by taking advantage of the old shoes' popularity. When discovering Al's boss, Gary, was using illegal sweatshops to manufacture the shoes, Jefferson assists Al in a search for incriminating evidence. When Bud was involved in a romantic relationship with the (surprising to the characters) female Gary (played by Janet Carroll), Jefferson convinced Al to permit the relationship, so Al can milk Gary out of her money through his son. After discovering that they were in possession of private pictures of Shannon Tweed in sexually provocative manners, Jefferson convinced Al to sell it to the media. During a rare time in which Al is struck with good luck, Jefferson persuades him into a high-stakes poker game with a group of ex-criminals. Jefferson also convinced Al to go home to have sex with his wife, so Al could win a radio contest.

During the course of the series, it is revealed that Jefferson spent time in prison (for selling contaminated land as a vacation spot to several people, including Al) and used to be in the CIA. Occasionally, people claim to have seen him on Happy Days, a claim he always denies (Ted McGinley did, in fact, play Jefferson High School coach and teacher Roger Phillips on Happy Days later in the series, the obvious inspiration for the character's name).

Ted McGinley had appeared previously as Peggy's husband, Mr. Norman Jablonski, in the second part of It's a Bundyful Life, where Al's guardian angel (Sam Kinison) shows Al what his family would have become if he was never born. The episode lightly parodies Capra's It's a Wonderful Life.

Amber

Amber (Juliet Tablak) is Marcy's niece. Amber's mother sent her to live with Marcy to get her out of her bad L.A. neighborhood. Bud tries relentlessly to bed her, and succeeds, but only once. After season nine, Amber disappears without explanation. Like most females on the sitcom, she is typically repulsed by his objectifying views of females. However, she does appear to demonstrate an attraction to Bud (remarking to Kelly in private that she thinks he is cute), and freely kisses him as a way of saying goodbye.

Recurring characters

Griff (Harold Sylvester) – First appears early in Season 9, and is a friend and co-worker of Al at the shoe store. He is also a member of Al's "NO MA'AM" organization. A divorcee, he shares many of Al's characteristics as far as work ethic and views on women go. However, Griff isn't quite as impolite and outspoken to their customers, or to their boss, Gary. He is also less callous; occasionally he feels uneasy when going along with one of Al or Jefferson's many schemes. Griff drives a GEO Metro, and is often mocked for this. However, Griff is happy because it is still more reliable than Al's 1970s Dodge. (Al says Griff's car is easier to push.) When Bud and Griff first met, Bud said Al never mentioned having a co-worker, and Griff said Al never mentioned having a son, a daughter, or a living wife, but had already annoyed him with all the times he mentioned scoring four touchdowns in one single game.

Bob Rooney (E. E. Bell) – One of Al's friends from the neighborhood, and treasurer of "NO MA'AM." He works as a butcher, has a wife named Louise (who is a friend of Peggy), and played on the same football team as Al at Polk High. He is always called by both his first and last name, even by his wife, and it is spelled as one word on his bowling shirt. Bell was the only member of the extended cast to spend a lot of time on the Usenet newsgroups fielding questions from viewers.

Officer Dan (Dan Tullis, Jr.) – A friend of Al's who is also in "NO MA'AM." Surprisingly, though he is part of "NO MA'AM," he often arrests them for their illegal antics. However, he does admit to his friends that he is a corrupt officer, which indicates he does help out the group now and then. In one of the times he was about to arrest them, he changes his mind and joins them when he learns they're trying to bring back "Psycho Dad". Though he was usually a cop, in season 6 Officer Dan arrives at the Bundy front door as an FBI agent looking for Steve Rhodes.

Ike (Tom McCleister) – Another member of "NO MA'AM." Sergeant of Arms of the organization. Believes Elvis is still alive. The character was named after producer Kim Weiskopf's best friends's son.

Miranda Veracruz de la Hoya Cardinal (Teresa Parente) – Latina local news reporter originally from "a country named after the equator" who is typically assigned to cover the pathetic news stories in which the Bundys inevitably involve themselves. She often laments the sad state of her career on-air. While she only appears in a handful of episodes throughout the series, the character seems to be quite popular with fans.

The Wankers – Peggy's family, living in Wanker County ("The home of the gassy beaver"). They are more often mentioned than seen on camera. Peggy's mother is never shown (though she is heard in several episodes, voiced by Kathleen Freeman), but her father (Tim Conway) appears in a few episodes. Mrs. Wanker's unbelievable obesity is the subject of many jokes, including one in which Al goes blind after accidentally walking in on her bathing. Other extended family members includes Uncle Otto (James 'Gypsy' Haake), Uncle Irwin (Chris Pallies (King Kong Bundy)), the Wanker Triplets (Milly de Rubio, Elena de Rubio, Eadie de Rubio), Cousin Possum Boy (John Gerard), Cousin Effie (Joey Lauren Adams), Cousin Eb (William Sanderson), Cousin Zemus (Bob Goldthwait) and his wife Cousin Ida Mae (Linda Blair). In the UK and Australia, the word 'wanker' is a slang insult that means "someone who masturbates." It is not known whether the producers knew this, and included is as an in-joke for the benefit of British/Australian audiences, or whether the name is just a coincidence. When Peggy hears Al encouraging Kelly to get a job, she mentions a tradition of the female Wankers of having men being buried earlier for having to keep them.

Gary (Janet Carroll) – The owner of Gary's Shoes and employer of Al. Gary's first appearance in the series came after Al turned her women's shoe store into a men's, assuming Gary was male and therefore wouldn't notice. (Al never saw Gary in the first twenty years he worked in the store, leading him once to doubt that Gary really existed) Gary is incredibly wealthy (she would have been in the Forbes 400, but only reached #401 because of the shoe store--her only failing business venture). In the first appearance she said she owns, among other things, men, prompting Al to offer himself but she points out she said "men." Over the course of the series she makes several more appearances, always to the chagrin of Al, and in one episode even becomes the Sugar Momma of Bud, much to the chagrin of those who still thought she was a man. However she became too possessive leading Bud to break-up with her as he puts his dignity over her money.

Luke Ventura (Ritch Shydner) – A co-worker at the shoe store early in the series. He was a sly womanizer who was always seducing beautiful women and stealing Al's sales. Peg hated him while Al tolerated him. He disappears from the show after the first season, but is mentioned again in the ninth season episode "Pump Fiction," when Al learns from the shoe industry publication "Shoe News" that Luke is being given an award. Though he was portrayed to be a friend of Al's in the beginning of the series, after his disappearance, he had been spoken of as if he had since become Al's rival.

Aaron Mitchell (Hill Harper) – The second co-worker of Al's at the shoe store. A young football star at Polk High, he is on the verge of marrying a wonderful woman and going to college, achieving everything that Al ever wanted. Al chooses to live his life vicariously through Aaron, until his misguided advice accidentally drive the boy to a shrewish woman named "Meg" (a young copy of Peg) and the same dismal fate which had befallen Al. Aaron appeared only in the eighth season (5 episodes).

Dexter (Chi McBride) – He was the third co-worker with Al in Gary's Shoes. He was killed off when a fat woman fell on him during an Earthquake that was ironically caused by fat women.

Ariel (Jennifer Lyons) – One of Bud's love interests. She is the quintessential dumb blonde, sporting blonde hair, large breasts, skimpy outfits and a high-pitched voice. She is not very smart and Bud is constantly thinking of new ways to con her into having sex with him.

Episodes

Spike deal

In 2008, the Spike network reportedly paid US$12 million for broadcast rights to every episode including the unedited version of the infamous episode, I'll See You in Court. It started airing on Spike on September 29th, 2008 with a weeklong marathon.

Controversy and edited content

One episode of Married... with Children was "lost" due to the efforts of a Michigan housewife (see below); it did, however, air outside the United States since the show went into syndication. Another edited episode involved Al trying to sell his Dodge before he is contacted by a Dodge representative wanting to record the moment when the odometer on the Dodge reaches all-zeros (1 million miles) was also the source of controversy. After meeting various people, Al is approached by two men dressed in all white tunics, holding a bundle of dynamite attached to an alarm clock. The men declare, "Look, we have no time to haggle; we need car and directions to Sears Tower."

Rakolta boycott

In 1989, Terry Rakolta, a homemaker from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, led a boycott against Married... with Children after viewing the episode Her Cups Runneth Over - 0306. Offended by the images of an old man wearing a garter and stockings, the scene where Steve touches the panties of a mannequin dressed in S&M gear, a homosexual man wearing a tiara on his head (and Al's line, "...and they wonder why we call them "queens"), and a woman who takes off her bra in front of Al (and is shown with her arms covering her chest in the next shot), Rakolta began a letter-writing campaign to advertisers, demanding they boycott the show.

After advertisers began dropping their support for the show and while Rakolta made several appearances on television talk shows, FOX executives refused to air the episode titled I'll See You In Court - 0310. This episode would become known as the "Lost Episode" and was aired on FX on June 18, 2002, with some parts cut for time reasons. The episode was packaged with the rest of the third season in the January 2005 DVD release (and in the first volume of the Married...With Children Most Outrageous episode DVD set) with the parts cut from syndication put back in.

During the first boycott, ratings for Married... with Children ironically rose due to interest in the show caused by Rakolta's crusade to have the show canceled (a non-Internet example of the Streisand effect). The increased number of viewers kept the show on the air until 1997.

Rakolta has been referenced twice on the show: Rock and Roll Girl - 0414, when a newscaster mentioned the city Bloomfield Hills, and No Pot To Pease In - 0909, when a television show was made about the Bundy family and then was canceled because (according to Marcy) "some woman in Michigan didn't like it."

For the most part the episodes on the North American DVD box sets are the unedited versions as seen on the FOX network, however there are some instances where scenes have been cut or the syndicated version of an episode was placed on the DVD instead. This is most noticeable in Season 4, where 7 of the 22 episodes have some type of edit. The German region 2 Season 4 set uses non-syndicated versions of these episodes, although the Dutch and French sets have the syndicated versions.

The region 4 sets were delayed by three years from the release of the complete Season 1, until the release of Season 2. EzyDVD plans to release the region 4 editions from seasons 2-7. These DVDs will all be released on September 24, 2008. It is unknown whether or not these DVDs will be edited like their American counterparts, as few details have been released on the DVDs.

It has recently surfaced that seasons 8 & 9 will be released in Region 4. This will bring the released DVDs to the equivalent of the American releases.

The DVD box sets from Season 3 onward do not feature the original "Love and Marriage" theme song in the opening sequence. This was done because Sony was unable to obtain the rights to the theme song. It is highly unlikely that the theme song will return in any yet to be released DVD box set.

The replaced theme song was the cause of the syndicated versions of seven episodes in Season 4, as Sony falsely claimed did not have access to the original masters of these episodes, and had to use syndicated prints. This is proved wrong since they used the originals from Season 4 in "Most Outrageous" DVDs that contained some episodes. As the end credits had to be altered to credit the new theme song, certain scenes that originally ran during the end credits had to be replaced with a freeze frame. In most episodes affected, the original audio plays in the background while you see a freeze frame, however in a few cases a freeze frame is used, but the original audio is replaced with the theme song. The final two seasons are expected to be released in the near future.

In the German speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) all seasons have already been released (region 2).
In December 2007 the Big Bundy Box - a special collection box with all seasons plus new interviews with Katey Sagal & David Faustino - was released.

Remakes

Argentina

In Argentina a remake has been done under the name of Casados con Hijos. The show aired in 2005 and although it wasn't successful at first, it was aired again during summer and it got one of the highest ratings of the year and because of that, a second season has been done for 2006. The characters are Pepe (Guillermo Francella), Moni (Florencia Peña), Coqui (Darío Lopilato) and Paola (Luisana Lopilato), all under the 'Argento' surname. It should be noted that the show's reruns had higher ratings than when the episodes were first aired.

Brazil

A Guerra dos Pintos (War of the Pintos) was the title of the Brazilian remake. It ran for a short time on BAND before it got cancelled in 1999 due to poor ratings. Many episodes were left unaired. The Brazilian Bundys were called "Pintos" (hence the name of the series). Pinto translates to dick in Portuguese, and is also a common Brazilian surname. The Pintos lived in Rio de Janeiro. Al's equivalent, "Zé Pinto," was a shoe salesman just like Al, and he was a former soccer player as Al was a former football player. Peggy equivalent was named "Neide Pinto," Kelly named "Kelly Pinto" and Bud was "Joca Pinto" in the series. They also had a dog named Cachorro (which means dog in Portuguese). Their neighbours, the "Fialho's," were based on the Rhoades, not the D'Arcys. The storyline was exactly the same as in the early original version.

Chile

In Chile, a remake was made in 2006 and 2007, with the name Casado con Hijos, and it has been getting higher ratings, beating soap operas broadcasting in the same hour. The show was broadcasted daily. The characters were Alberto "Tito" Larraín (Al), María Eugenia "Quena" Gómez de Larraín (Peggy), Ignacio "Nacho" Larraín (Bud), and Titi (Kelly). Their neighbors are Marcia Durán (Marcy) and Pablo Pinto (both Steve Rhodes and Jefferson D'Arcy).

Colombia

In Colombia a remake named Casados con Hijos was made on 2005. The characters are "Paco" Rocha (Al), "Lola" (Peggy), Willy (Bud), and Kelly (Kelly).

Croatia

September 2008 - The Croatian channel Nova TV begins their own adaptation of "Married... with Children", locally called "Bračne vode" where the famous last name Bundy turns into similar Bandić (Bandić is Milan Bandić's last name, he is the Mayor of the City of Zagreb). Some of famous actors were cast in core roles, such as Damir Lončar as Al Mila Elegović as Peggy, Jadranka Đokić as Marcy, Igor Mešin as Steve/Jefferson, and Sonja Kovač as Kelly.

Germany

The German sitcom Hilfe, meine Familie spinnt (Help me, my family's gone wild) is an adaptation of the first 26 episodes of Married... with Children produced by RTL Television in 1992, depicting the exploits of the Cologne family Strunk. The scripts and every single joke from Married... with Children were translated to German, with only minor adjustments to better fit the German audience, e.g. replacing names of celebrities mentioned in the show.

Hilfe, meine Familie spinnt went on air March 4th, 1993 on RTL (called "RTL Plus" from 1984 to 1992) as a weekly show airing each Thursday at prime time, which traditionally begins at 20:15 in Germany. At first it had twice as many viewers as the dubbed original show which also aired on RTL (weekdays at changing times between 17:30 and 19:45), but Hilfe, meine Familie spinnt received overwhelmingly bad ratings from fans of the original show and critics alike, criticizing that the show was a poor imitation of Married... with Children. The number of viewers dropped considerably during the next weeks, and the show quickly got canceled.

Hungary

In 2006, Hungarian TV network TV2 brought the license rights including scripts and hired the original producers from Sony Pictures for a remake show placed in Hungarian environment. It was entitled Egy rém rendes család Budapesten (in English: Married with children in Budapest, loan translation: A gruesomely decent family in Budapest). The main story began with the new family called the Bándis inherit an outskirt house from their American relatives the Bundys. They filmed a whole season of 26 episodes, all of them being remade versions of the plots of the original first seasons. It was the highest budget sitcom ever made in Hungary. First it was aired on Tuesday nights, but was beaten by a new season of ER, then placed to Wednesday nights. The remake lost its viewers, but stayed on the air due to the contract between Sony and TV2. ()

Poland

There is a sitcom called Świat według Kiepskich (The World According to the Kiepscy), which is loosely based on Married... with Children (in Poland entitled Świat według Bundych - "The World According to the Bundy").
It has been running since 1999. Although it has been cancelled for one year, during 2005–2006 period, under the fans pressure it has been brought back next year. It is still running with over 200 episodes. There are many differences between original 'Married... with Children' and 'Swiat według Kiepskich' such as the working wife, unemployed husband, half-disabled mother of the housewife, completely dumb son, a very greedy neighbour with his poshless wife and other changes like second neighbour, a fat man called 'Boczek' (Bacon). Few years before its first canncellation, the actor who played the Polish version of Al Bundy's son left the show. In real life, the actor met with unpleasant situations, in which people mistook his fictional character as himself. Despite rumours of a comeback, the actor never returned to the series. Another big change was when the actress who played the role of housewife's mother died at age of 87 in real life. The producers said that it was a great loss and her character was irreplaceable.

Russia

The Original Married... With Children ran on NTV nightn air for almost three years, on daily basis involving the show of most episodes from seasons 1-10. The show later aired on TV6. However, for unknown reasons, most episodes from season 11 were not shown. A Russian adaptation, titled Счастливы вместе (Sсhastlivy Vmeste) (Happy Together), is now airing on ТНТ channel across the country.

In April 2008, the producers announced all episodes of Married... With Children have been adapted as Schastlivy Vmeste (including all the episodes from the seldom seen 11th season) and an online contest was started where fans could submit new ideas for episodes..

Spain

Originally it was aired at public channel "La 2." The Spanish TV network Cuatro created a Spanish version called Matrimonio con Hijos (Marriage with Children). It was cancelled after only one season due to the lack of quality and good scripts.

United Kingdom

It was shown on ITV, and made no great impact, perhaps because of the questionable use of wholesome family comedian Russ Abbott in the lead role of Ted Butler, or perhaps because the original had already been shown on the same channel, albeit in a late-evening slot. Also, this version was considerably toned down from the original, despite the fact that British TV is in general more risque than American, and the BBC had already been showing shows similar to Married for years. The show was renamed Married for Life, in order to distinguish it from the original, which already had a cult following in the United Kingdom.

Spin-offs

Married... with Children was adapted into a comic book series by NOW Comics in 1990.

The episodes Top of the Heap, Radio Free Trumaine, and Enemies were meant to be spin-offs.

Top of the Heap was the only episode of the three to get its own show. It was notable as an early sitcom starring Matt LeBlanc. The show was about Vinnie Verducci (played by LeBlanc) and his father Charlie (played by Joseph Bologna) always trying get rich quick schemes. The Verduccis were introduced in an earlier episode where Vinnie played Kelly Bundy's boyfriend and Charlie played an old friend of Al Bundy's. The end of the pilot episode shows Al breaking into their apartment and stealing their TV to replace the one he lost betting on Vinnie in a boxing match.

Radio Free Trumaine was to be about Bud Bundy's time in college with the campus radio station, with Steve Rhoades as the antagonistic Dean. The episode co-starred Keri Russell.

Enemies was a Friends clone, featuring Alan Thicke, based around Kelly Bundy's social circle.

In addition to those three spin-offs, a Frasier-type spin-off (i.e., picking up from where the show it spun-off from left off) about Kelly Bundy was planned but never made for two reasons: Christina Applegate turned it down, and Fox's contract stated that the two Bundy children couldn't get spin-offs. Also, series co-creator Michael G. Moye proposed a NO MA'AM, spin-off, but got turned down mainly due to FOX's fears of alienating much of the female demographic.

Worldwide

United States: It ran on Fox for its eleven year run but it has also appeared in syndication reruns on other channels. Sony Pictures Television picked it up and Sony has only released it on DVD but never aired it on any channel. It is currently showing on Spike TV and TBS.

Married...with Children is also popular in other countries around the world.

It ran from 1992 on RTL ("RTLplus" at that time). It also aired on ProSieben. It now currently airs two episodes a day Monday-Friday on Kabel1. The show runs in a constant loop. It runs Season 1-11 and then starts all over again.

The show has ventured from channel to channel over the years, from the now-defunct TV3 through RTL Klub to Viasat 3, where it is occasionally repeated. A cable television called CoolTV airs 3 episodes each day.

Shown on RTÉ Two and on the UK's Paramount Comedy. In the 90'S it aired on the UK's Sky1.It disappeared in the early 2000s. Very recently on RTÉ One it appeared early January 2007 on a Late Thursday Night/Early Friday Morning at 4am and showed two episodes each time. It disappeared off of the schedule Late April 2007. Not Currently Showing on Irish Television.

Since 2006 the show can be seen on HOT cable television, in the channel Bip, channel 4. A shoe store in Herzliya named itself Bundy Shoes (though the shop in the series is Gary's). In the past the show was shown on channels 2, 3 and 6.

Originally (some ten years ago on TV3) aired as Våre verste år (Our Worst Years), the show is now called Bundy and is currently in re-runs after midnight every day except weekends on TV3. Is also shown daily on Viasat 4.

Matrimonio con Hijos(Marriage with Children)

TV 13 - RED GLOBALSony Entertainment Television

The show runs on TV 13 - RED GLOBAL from Monday to Friday at 20.00 p.m.

The show was aired many times on Polsat, and it is still on air there today. Its popularity spanned a sitcom with similar premise made by Polsat - Świat według Kiepskich (The World According to the Kiepscy).

The Original Married... With Children ran on NTV nightn air for almost three years, on daily basis involving the show of most episodes from seasons 1-10. The show later aired on TV6 and the "Domashniy Channel." However, for unknown reasons, most episodes from season 11 were not shown. After being pushed into a late night schedule, the show has been dropped entirely in favour of the current Russian remake, titled Schastlivi Vmesti ("Happy Together.")

The original series were a classic that ran for a decade in the public national channel TVE2. Recently the Spanish TV channel Cuatro did a remake of the original series under the name Matrimonio con Hijos. In Catalonia, the show also ran in Catalan as Casats... i amb fills on TV3 and is currently running on the DTT channels Canal 300 and Sony Entertainment Television en VEO.

The title is a pun for the title of the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives called Våra bästa år which is Our Best Years. The show has been running repeatedly on the Kinnevik-owned channels TV3 and ZTV since the start of the show and with repeated re-runs. After several years off the air, it returned in 2006 as a part of TV6's launch schedule.

The show first aired on ITV between 1988 and 1996, usually on a Friday evening or in the early hours on Saturdays, where it built up a cult following. The then regional structure of ITV meant that people who were able to pick up more than one ITV region could often watch more than one episode a night. From 1996 to 1997 the programme transferred to Sky1 and later aired on ITV2 from 2004 to 2006. It recently appeared for a time on ITV4 and has been shown on cable comedy channel Paramount since 1999. The show does not currently air on UK television.

Счастливы вместе(Happy Together)

Novij Kanal

The Russian remake of the show, Счастливы вместе, is currently being shown on Novij Kanal (New Channel) every weekday night from 9:30-10:30.